Council OKs 4-Day City Hall Work Schedule : Thousand Oaks: Employee groups and the Air Pollution Control District still must approve the Monday-through-Thursday plan.

Ordered to reduce vehicle traffic, the Thousand Oaks City Council has approved a plan to cut the workweek to four days, shutting down City Hall on Fridays.

Council members unanimously adopted the plan Tuesday night, saying it will cut down on the number of commutes made by city workers.

“It achieves the goal, and it doesn’t cost any money,” Councilwoman Elois Zeanah said.

If the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District approves the plan next month, the city could begin shutting its doors on Fridays later this year, City Manager Grant R. Brimhall said Wednesday.

If approved, Thousand Oaks would become the first city in Ventura County to adopt a four-day, 10-hour daily work schedule.

The plan has already raised concerns among city employees and a developers’ group, who fear that a shorter workweek might mean delays in processing building applications.

“We have concerns that this could create further delays in their processing, which is already relatively long,” said Dee Boysen, a spokeswoman for the Greater Los Angeles-Ventura region of the Building Industry Assn., which has 300 members in Ventura County. “We don’t want to criticize the program before we see how it works, but we don’t want it to create any additional burdens on builders.”

A spokesman for a city employees union said the plan could disrupt workers’ lives.

“Modified workweeks have become a significant problem,” said Barry Hammitt, a spokesman for the Thousand Oaks City Employees Assn. “When we change that work schedule, it disrupts the family unit and causes a lot of problems.”

The city is under orders from the state and the county Air Pollution Control District to reduce commuter traffic or face $25,000 a day in fines for failing to file a plan by May 2.

Thousand Oaks has also considered offering financial incentives for car-pooling, bicycling, walking or taking the bus. In Simi Valley, officials chose to reward workers who car-pool.

“I think it’s necessary for constituents to reach City Hall during the week,” Simi Valley Councilman Bill Davis said. “Shutting the city down for one day is not an option I would accept.”

Thousand Oaks officials recommended the four-day workweek because, unlike financial incentives to encourage car-pooling, shutting down one day a week would not involve any additional costs, Roy Myers, who is coordinating the city’s plan, said. Shutting down every other Friday would be confusing, he said.

Some cities in the Los Angeles area, such as Hermosa Beach, Carson and Duarte, have gone to a four-day week, Jano Baghdanian, city traffic engineer, said.

Surveys of the 360 City Hall workers show that nearly 90% want a shorter workweek. Two-thirds prefer a four-day schedule, and the rest preferred to work nine out of 10 days.

Instead of being open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., City Hall would be open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays. Some workers, including building inspectors and emergency crews, would continue to work Fridays, although City Hall would be closed.

Other municipal offices, including two libraries and the sewer treatment plant, would not change their schedules.

The plan is still subject to approval by the Thousand Oaks City Employees Assn. and the Thousand Oaks Management Assn., which represent the city’s workers.

The unions are in the midst of bargaining with the city over a new two-year contract, Greg Eckman, city human resources director, said. The current contract expires in July.

Although city officials have not formally raised the issue, Hammitt of the Thousand Oaks City Employees Assn. said he expects problems with a shorter workweek.

Many of the city’s 560 workers are women who care for young children and aging parents, he said. The longer day might also affect the number of paid holidays, overtime and when workers can take lunches, breaks and vacations, he said.

Ann Hammerslag, 37, an administrative secretary in the city manager’s office, said she is concerned about the effect of the longer workday on her two teen-age boys.

“If I work 10 hours a day, I may have trouble getting child care,” Hammerslag said. “I live in Moorpark, and Moorpark doesn’t have a lot of child-care choices.”

But Suzanne Kinsey, an administrative secretary who lives in Fillmore, said she will enjoy the freedom from commuting 56 miles round-trip one day a week.

“It will cancel out a one-day ride for me,” she said. “I’ve been doing it for almost five years and wearing cars out.”

Some occasional City Hall visitors say they don’t mind having fewer days to take care of business.

“You can’t get marriage licenses on Fridays anyway,” said Beth Huemme, 24, of Westlake, who came in with her fiance, Tom Jovicic, 31, to get a license.

WHAT’S NEXT

Thousand Oaks city officials must submit a plan to the Ventura County Air Pollution Control District by May 2, and the county agency has 60 days in which to approve it. If the plan is approved, the city has a year to implement it.